


To be human

by Quillfiend



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 02:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21313012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillfiend/pseuds/Quillfiend
Summary: The Harrowing strikes Runeterra as it does every year. Two solitary souls are caught out in the storm.
Relationships: Ahri/Shen (League of Legends)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Of all things, hubris was going to be her downfall. Perhaps she was more human than spirit after all.

Ahri always thought herself the ultimate predator, the apex hunter too quick, too cunning to be matched by anything or anybody of either the physical or the spirit world. She believed herself to be above everything, even the Harrowing.

And that was foolish.

Short of breath and with tears filling her eyes - an undeniable symptom of fear and exhaustion - she leapt through the wilting brushes in her path and tried not to listen to the seething wraiths at her heel. She only had a second to ponder her fleeting life before a malevolent tendril latched onto her ankle and tripped her over, sending her face first into the dirt. Death was to follow in its wake, but then - a flash of radiant energy amidst the dreadful host—

Ahri squinted into the blue light and saw the silhouette of a man who moved about like a shadow, almost as agile as her. She gathered her wits and jumped back onto her legs, sending a globe of foxfire into the approaching army to help her savior, but no matter how quickly he cut down wave after wave of dark shadows with his gleaming spirit blade, the two of them couldn't ever hope to defeat the endless scourge that was the Harrowing.

_I don't want to die alone, _Ahri thought, _I won't. I won't now. Thank you for granting me this one last wish, stranger._

The man turned to face her and she caught a glimpse of his eyes, grey and full of sorrow. He leapt to her and pulled her into his embrace; she accepted it in hopes that this brief moment of warmth would become her last memory, but it was not to be - not that day. Another blast of radiance enveloped them, yanking them both through the currents of space; when they emerged from the stream again, they were far from the ravenous horde.

It took Ahri a moment to grasp what had just happened.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then she realized that the man holding her moments ago grew heavier and heavier in her arms, until his full weight collapsed onto her. She struggled to hold him up, slowly lowering herself and him with her to the grassy ground. They were both covered in dark grime and spirit residuum; she had to wipe much of it away before she finally revealed the stranger's wounds. Deep red was pouring out of the bites and gashes littering his chest and stomach. As his life slowly expired, Ahri watched the painful memories of his life escape his mind and towards the heavens; feelings of failure, of terrible solitude, of utter and complete devotion to a task that was ultimately futile. He was a valiant, lonely soul, at peace with his passing; he had left so much unsaid and undone but nobody to mourn or miss him.

Ahri let his head rest on her lap as she stroked his forehead gently, her eyes welling up once again. She allowed herself this brief moment of overwhelming melancholy before she moved to repay her debt. A life for a life. He saved hers, and she owed him the same.


	2. Chapter 2

When Shen came to his senses, he thought himself dead. Everything around him was so perfectly still, so tranquil; the forest lagoon surrounding him was merely there to grant him brief reprieve before his spirit was to join the departed for good. Unfortunately, the burning pain in his chest was quick to remind him that he was still very much alive as soon as he drew his first waking breath.

He didn't dare move any more than he needed to. He felt heavy, battered, exhausted; the cursed wounds were sapping his strength. The only thing soothing his aches was the chilly water his body was submerged in; each of his twitches and shivers sent a wave of small ripples across the glistening surface.

He so wished his death wasn't so tardy.

When she finally arrived, she was eerily quiet, as quiet as only the soultaker could be. Shen greeted her with a faint smile and searched for his final judgement in her amber eyes, but he only found pity and curiosity. It was unsettling.

„You're awake,“ she whispered with a speckle of joy in her tone, „stay put. I brought you something.“

He obeyed, at least in part. His mind started racing, diving into recent memories. No, this woman wasn't his death - she was merely an unlucky soul caught out by the Harrowing.

„How are you feeling?“ she asked as she knelt in the shallow water next to him and lifted a bowl of syrupy broth to his lips. He recognized the scent of the pain-dulling asakuri and the sweet taste of Oulin berries. It was... Pleasant.

„I did not come to save you,“ he said after he'd sipped all of the soup, „you were simply between me and my enemy. You are not beholden to me. You do not owe me anything.“

Each of those words hurt. Because his body was so broken, and because he once again had to defend his tiresome solitude. The path he walked was only made for one man.

The fox-woman furrowed her thick raven brows in a pensive frown. Shen remained silent, as he had said all he wanted to.

„I'll stay regardless,“ she finally spoke. He felt relief, bitter relief. It was shameful.

The fox conjured a globe of azure fire and began dropping little embers into the water around him to warm it up. He weakly lifted his hand to brush the back of it against her knee and thought about how this was for the first time in his life that he felt glad to be utterly powerless. To be cared for by a kind stranger he knew nothing about. His father taught him to always see the bigger picture, the past and the future, the consequences of everything, but Shen couldn't bring himself to honor his creed in that one beautiful, fleeting moment. He was aching too much for anything else to matter.


End file.
